From zero to a victory

BLUFFTON — Zero.

That’s how many points the Patriots scored in the first quarter.

Seventeen.

That was their eventual margin of victory.

After getting shut out in the opening period on Friday night, the Jay County High School boys basketball team stormed back for a 13-point second quarter as it choked out the Bluffton Tigers 31-14.

The Patriots (5-9, 3-1 Allen County Athletic Conference) got off to a slow start, shooting 0-for-7 from the field with six turnovers through the first eight minutes. The Tigers (6-8, 2-3 ACAC) weren’t much better with three turnovers and 1-of-8 in the opening period.

The only basket came 3 minutes, 45 seconds, into the game when Bluffton worked a long possession before Tucker Jenkins kicked the ball out to Axton Beste for a three.

“Sometimes you can explain it and sometimes you can’t,” Jay County coach Jerry Bomholt said. “I know this, Dr. James Naismith was looking around somewhere, he thought we set basketball back about 50 years. Holy smokes! We just couldn’t get anything on the offensive end.

“They were playing pretty good defense, (Bluffton coach Craig) Teagle does a really nice job. We just had to maintain our defensive intensity until we got some things to go. Fortunately for us we were able to do that.”

Beste opened the second quarter with a pull-up jumper to push Bluffton’s lead to 5-0.

Finally, the offense showed up for Jay County.

Ben Crouch drove from the wing just into the paint before kicking the ball out to Gradin Swoveland at the top of the key. Swoveland rose up and drained a three with the clock reading 6:39 in the second quarter to give JCHS its first points.

“We were living and dying by the three,” Swoveland said. “They were kind of just giving it to us.

“I finally got one to fall and got confident. Once you hit one or two, the floor just opens up.”

One possession later, Swoveland hit a pull-up to tie the game.

Jay County took the lead on a turnaround jump shot by Ben Crouch in the middle of the paint at 4:47.

Two more threes from Swoveland and Levi Muhlenkamp pushed Jay County to 13 points in the quarter.

Jenkins hit a layup on a dump down from Kaleb Green, but the damage was done as the Patriots entered halftime with a six-point lead.

Bluffton struggled with the Patriots 1-2-2 zone defense in the second half as well, scoring seven points and turning the ball over 10 times.

“We were way too passive,” Teagle said. “We didn’t attack like we thought we were going to. We spent four days in practice doing things and then when you don’t do it in the game it looks pretty bad. …

“I don’t know if their size intimidated us — you can practice all you want against your JV, it’s not that size. Again, in saying all that, they are really good at the 1-2-2 zone. So, that’s part of our problem. It’s hard when you see things that you don’t see often.”

Swoveland nearly outscored the Tigers all by himself, finishing with a game-high 12 points.

Jenkins ended as Bluffton’s leading scorer with eight points on 4-of-5 shooting, but was held back by the Patriots’ defense clogging up the paint and not allowing him to get many touches.

The game featured two of the winningest coaches in Jay County history, as Teagle coached the Patriots from 1998 to 2015, including taking JCHS to the 2006 Class 3A state championship game.

They are also both in the top 15 in wins among active coaches in Indiana, combining for 1,040 total victories. In 42 years, Bomholt sits fifth with 591 wins, while Teagle comes in at 15th with 449.

Bomholt praised his team for helping carry him to this most recent win.

“It was never about coach Teagle versus me,” Bomholt said. “I’d lose that battle every single time.

“It was about our kids being able to play and doing the things we were going to try to get them to do. Fortunately for us they did it. …

“We were able to make some plays when we needed to.”

Junior varsity

Nolan Lambert delivered a fatal blow as Jay County fell to the Tigers 38-37.

Lambert came down with a defensive rebound with nearly 20 seconds left in the contest and pushed up the floor. He danced around the top of the key before receiving a screen from Eli Bertsch to get free for the go-ahead 3-pointer that fell through without enough time for the Patriots to respond. 

Lambert swished six second-half threes to finish with 19 points and led a 19-point third quarter to fuel Bluffton’s comeback.

The Patriots dominated the first period with 17 points, 15 of which came from distance.

Drew Schemenaur and Carter Fugiett ended as the JCHS leading scorers with 10 points each.

Freshmen

Maxwell White stepped up to nail a 3-point buzzer beater to complete a 12-point Bluffton comeback in the fourth quarter to take down the Patriots 38-35.

Jay County led the Tigers 30-18 through three quarters before Bluffton caught fire for a 20-5 period. White scored 10 of his game-high 16 points in the fourth, including the game winner that came off an elevator screen during a sideline out of bounds play.

Brock Wasson led the Patriots offense with 15 points.